The Paradise papers have shown that Mulroney is dealing with businesselites that are hiding their money off shore. Trudeau was shown to beassociating with a similar crowd avoiding taxes with off shore accounts,showing that our politicians live in a different circle than mostCanadians.These elites always mention that what they are doing is perfectly legal.There are approximately 3300 Canadians and companies that have theirmoney in off shore havens.The question I have is: Why is it legal?The answer is that both the Liberals and the Conservatives are funded bythe ultra wealthy and they want their tax havens.I find it hypocritical that Andrew Scheer is attacking the financeminister for insider knowledge while saying nothing about the taxhavens. I wonder how many Conservatives hide their money from the taxman.

PARADISE PAPERSNew Mulroney Institute is bankrolled by billionaires steeped in scandalEx-PM raised part of funds for N.S. university site from businessmentied to bribery schemes, tax havens

A new $60-million university institute in Nova Scotia celebrating formerprime minister Brian Mulroney — and being built with money he personallysolicited — got a good chunk of that financing from donors embroiled ininternational controversy, a joint investigation by the Toronto Star,CBC/Radio-Canada and the International Consortium of InvestigativeJournalists has found.

From a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

A senior St. FX professor called the revelations "deeply troubling."

"It really is at odds with the purported mission of the university,"said Peter McInnis, chair of the university's history department and aformer head of the faculty association.

The Mulroney Institute, a venue for undergraduate studies in publicpolicy, was announced last year to great fanfare in Antigonish, N.S.

The town 160 kilometres northeast of Halifax is dominated by its 5,000-student university, and St FX president Kent MacDonald called the newinstitute "the most transformative project" in the history of theschool. Mulroney, at his alma mater, said it was a "high honour" to beinvolved

The project includes a new building, Mulroney Hall, which is to houseclassrooms as well as memorabilia from the former prime minister and are-creation of his office in Ottawa, where he worked as ProgressiveConservative prime minister from 1984 to 1993.

Mulroney raised most of the $60 million in funding himself, jet-settingacross the world at his own expense to drum up cash from his wealthyfriends and business associates.

"A lot of meetings, a lot of travel across Canada and the United States,London, Paris, the Middle East. It was a major endeavour," he toldjournalists at the groundbreaking ceremony in September.

Now, documents obtained by CBC News and the Star under Nova Scotiaaccess-to-information legislation show exactly who Mulroney was meetingwith and who was cutting the cheques.

Donors include:

Wafic Said, the Syrian-born British businessman who helped broker a$74-billion warplanes deal between a U.K. defence company and SaudiArabia.

Investigations in the mid-2000s determined that up to $10 billion inkickbacks may have been paid to Saudi officials. Hundreds of millions ofdollars in secret commissions reportedly flowed through Swiss accountslinked to Said, though he was never the target of any investigation andnever charged with any offence.

"I am proud of the role I played in helping to secure the Al Yamamahprogramme and with it, many tens of thousands of well-paid and highlyskilled jobs," Said said in an email.

Said obtained Canadian citizenship under unclear circumstances in the1990s and ran much of his fortune out of the tax haven of Bermuda.Mulroney sat on the board of his Bermuda-based company from 2004 to2012.

He donated $4 million to the Mulroney Institute, and in a speech at St.FX called Mulroney "one of the greatest and most successful primeministers of our time."

Victor Dahdaleh, a Jordanian-born British and Canadian metals magnatewho the Panama Papers confirmed was the middle-man in a decades-long,$400-million global bribery scheme involving aluminum giant Alcoa andpayments to government officials in Bahrain.

Dahdaleh was criminally charged in Britain but denied wrongdoing and wasacquitted in 2013 when a couple of prosecution witnesses didn't show upto court. He donated $1.5 million to create the Victor Dahdaleh Chair inDemocracy and Governance at the Mulroney Institute, and did not respondto a request for comment.

Wilbur Ross, the U.S. commerce secretary appointed by Trump.

The Paradise Papers revealed earlier this month that, through a thicketof offshore shell companies, Ross had a stake in a shipping businessthat received $68 million US in income from a Russian energy firmco-owned by a member of President Vladimir Putin's family and by a closefriend of Putin who is under U.S. sanctions.

David Koch, the conservative American tycoon who helped fund the U.S.Tea Party movement and who has spent considerable sums fighting publichealth care and trying to stymie efforts to curb climate change.

Both Dahdaleh and Said also received honorary doctorates from St. FXmonths before or after their donations — though neither attended theuniversity or has any significant connection to Nova Scotia.

Still, the notoriety of some of the donors, and the ease with which thehonorary degrees were dispensed, has critics saying St. FX sold out.

"Universities are under-funded so they're desperate for money, and whathappens so often is that they become very uncritical about who theyaccept the money from," said Jim Turk, director of the Centre for FreeExpression at Ryerson University in Toronto and former executivedirector of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. "That lackof concern about the ethics shows in this case."

McInnis, the history department chair, added: "St. FX has a history ofsocial justice and moral engagement in the community, and that could becalled into question. … I'm not at all pleased that these names areattached."

The university's top official defended his school. President MacDonaldwould not agree to an interview but said in an emailed statement thatSt. FX follows a "very rigorous" process to grant honorary doctorates."St. FX is proud of the contributions of all individuals who havereceived an honorary degree from our university," he said.

"We are, indeed, indebted to Mr. Mulroney and his family for theirunwavering support for St. FX and our surrounding rural community," thestatement said. "The economic impact" of the Mulroney Institute projectfor northeast Nova Scotia "is significant."'A good friend'

The Mulroney Institute accepted its first cohort of students this fall.The new building named after the former PM — one of the university'smost famous graduates — is scheduled to open in 2019.

Mulroney turned down an interview request, and did not answer detailedemailed questions about why he courted donations from Said and Dahdaleh,in particular.

The former PM's only statement on the matter came earlier this fall,when his name arose in the Paradise Papers in connection to Said.

"Mr. Mulroney has known Mr. Said and his family for more than 20 years,"a lawyer representing Mulroney wrote. "He is an outstanding man, ahighly successful investor and a leading philanthropist. He is also agood friend."

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?

You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?

I've had dealings with Jesuits themselves.Do you imagine they grow on trees?

It's the ones that _don't_ make the cut that are most problematic.

Post by TomPYou can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not be

yes.

Post by TomPsurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.

likely.

Post by TomPThe problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.Skipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.

Pour les Habs ;-)

Post by Dhu on GateSkipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.Dhu

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.

Pour les Habs ;-)

Post by Dhu on GateSkipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.Dhu

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

Post by TomPI would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.Skipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.

Quisling and Harper in the same sentence. You really need a brain specialist. Maybe TomP can recommend you someone.

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated inaluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker amassive U.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one ofU.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, anumber of the power players bankrolling the Mulroney Institute ofGovernment at St. Francis Xavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it producesa cadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to greatthings.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins witha predisposition to Evil.Dhu

Post by TomPI would not be surprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the formof bags of money filled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and moredifficult for the average Canadian trying to have a comfortablestandard of living?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.Skipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.

Quisling and Harper in the same sentence. You really need a brainspecialist. Maybe TomP can recommend you someone.

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated inaluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker amassive U.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one ofU.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, anumber of the power players bankrolling the Mulroney Institute ofGovernment at St. Francis Xavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it producesa cadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to greatthings.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins witha predisposition to Evil.Dhu

Post by TomPI would not be surprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the formof bags of money filled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and moredifficult for the average Canadian trying to have a comfortablestandard of living?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.Skipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.

Quisling and Harper in the same sentence. You really need a brainspecialist. Maybe TomP can recommend you someone.

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated in aluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker a massiveU.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, a number of the powerplayers bankrolling the Mulroney Institute of Government at St. FrancisXavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it produces acadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to great things.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and more difficultfor the average Canadian trying to have a comfortable standard ofliving?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.

YOU need to quit your endless griping and retire the idea that ANY ideayou have is worth the remaining shit it takes to get a good flush on.

Post by Dhu on GateSkipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.Dhu

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated inaluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker amassive U.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one ofU.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, anumber of the power players bankrolling the Mulroney Institute ofGovernment at St. Francis Xavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it producesa cadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to greatthings.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and moredifficult for the average Canadian trying to have a comfortablestandard of living?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.

YOU need to quit your endless griping and retire the idea that ANY ideayou have is worth the remaining shit it takes to get a good flush on.

Post by Dhu on GateSkipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.Dhu

Post by TomPFrom a Jordanian-born metals magnate implicated inaluminum-industrykickbacks, to a Syrian-British entrepreneur who helped broker amassive U.K. arms deal mired in corruption allegations, to one ofU.S. President Donald Trump's cabinet picks with ties to Russia, anumber of the power players bankrolling the Mulroney Institute ofGovernment at St. Francis Xavier University have checkered resumés.

This, as I see it, is the problem with Jesuit education: it producesa cadre of first-rate men who, like bishop Francis, go on to greatthings.But their failures are a bunch of dangerously educated cretins with apredisposition to Evil.Dhu

First-rate men?You can judge a person by the company they keep. I would not besurprised if Mulroney was paid kickbacks in the form of bags of moneyfilled with cash.The problem is these are the types of people that control ourgovernments. Is it any surprise life is getting more and moredifficult for the average Canadian trying to have a comfortablestandard of living?

We need a Norwegian Constitution.

YOU need to quit your endless griping and retire the idea that ANY ideayou have is worth the remaining shit it takes to get a good flush on.

Post by Dhu on GateSkipping the Vikund Quisling part would have been ok too, but we had Hapless Harpo.Dhu